Toy building set



Aug. 20, 1935.

Y J. B. FORBES I TOY BUILDING SET Filed May 1, 1955 5 structures may UNITED James B. Forbes, Chicago, Ill., Lloyd Wright, Inc., Chicago,

This invention relates to STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,912,160 a I o my BUILDING ear of Illinois assignor to. John Ill., a corporation Application May 1, 1935. Serial Malaise 1 Claim.

improvements in toy building sets, and more particularly to building sets made up of several groups of interfltting structural members from which various types of be erected.

The object of the invention is to provide a novel arrangement or combination of structural elements for constructing the gabled ends of structures having a peaked roof, that is to say, the triangular sections at each end of the structure which defines the roof line and supports the roof members.

A further object ofthe invention is to afiord a somewhat simpler construction for the gable ends by reducing the number of parts required and at the same time permitting the introduction of a preferred type of roof member, namely, in the form of narrow planks in place of a pair of hinged-together boards heretofore commonly used for the roof, but of little use for any other purpose, whereas planks can be used for erecting other structures.

The advantages of the improved construction will be betterapprehended from the following description in connection wi drawing, in which Figure 1 is a perspetcive view of 'a partially th the accompanying erected building showing the roof construction;

Figure 2 is an enlarged detail view in end elevation showing the assembly of the grooved timber piece, the gable piece, and the roof members;

Figure 3 is a perspective view of one of the gable pieces; Figure 4 is perspective view of one of the grooved timber pieces for supporting the gable piece, and

Figure 5 is a'perspective view of vone of the plank members used for the roof.

For the purpose of this disclosure, it will not be necessary to describe ea ch type and kind of member making up a set or the variousv styles of structures that can be erected therewith, if

for no other reason than building sets of the general type herein disclosed have long been in use, 'namely, in which the so-called log cabin end pairs of notches l' faci tions, whereby walls locking the pieces at ng in-opposite direcmay be erected by intertheir ends much in the same manner that primitive log cabins were erected.

For the roof, it is preferre d to employlong, fiat Now, it would be possible with'the proper,

lengths of interlocking pieces to build up pointed gables at the ends of the building, but obviously a much simpler method is to provide triangular gable pieces 3, made of a thinner material than the timber pieces I, and merely set them upright on the topmost pieces of the end walls to complete the gables and establish the roof line. But first it is necessary to provide a seat for these triangular gable pieces, and this is acomplished by providing special end pieces 4 for this purpose, these being the same as the regular pieces I, except that on one of the notched faces is cut a longitudinal central groove 4 '(Figure 4) of the same depth as the transversenotches 4 4" and of a width to receive the bottom edges of the gable pieces 3 with a fairly snug flt.

And finally, in order to-provide suitable abutments for holding the planks 2 in place on the sloping edges of the gable pieces, the latter are cut sufilciently shorter than the longitudinally groovedpieces 4 into which they are set, so that their ends terminate inwardly from the outer ends of the notches 4 4 at both ends of the piece, thereby leaving spaces between the ends of the gable piece and the outer ends of the notches, which serve as notches 5 to receive the bottom edges of the lower plank members 2 and thus hold all of the roof planks in place, as'clearly shown in Figure 2.

In this manner it is possible to erect buildings 40 with pointed gables and sloping roofs with a minimum number .of pieces and without additional parts or fastening members for anchoring the roof planks in place such as would tend to 46 increase the cost of manufacture. And in this connection it is to be observed that while the use of planks for the roof means a greater number of pieces in the set, it is a distinct advantage to do so, inasmuch as these planks can be used in the 50 erection of other structures such as bridgesbenches, tables, fences, and the like, whereas a single roof member is limited to that purpose only.

Having set forth a preferred embodiment of my invention,

I claim:

In a toy buildingset, the combination with timber pieces having pairs of transverse notches out at each end and facing in opposite directions, triangular gable pieces adapted to be supported in upright position at each end of the erected walls of the building to define the shape of the roof, a predetermined number of said timber pieces being provided with longitudinal grooves extending between the transverse notches on one face thereof and adapted to receive the bottom edge of said gable pieces with their ends terminating short of the outer ends of the transverse notches, and plank members extending lengthwise between said gable members andsupported on the sloping edges thereof, the lowermost plank member'engaging the inwardly facing abutments formed at the intersection of the sloping edges of said Sable pieces and the outer ends 01 the transverse notches in said grooved timber pieces.

JAMES B. FORBES. 

